Advice needed - Second camera, full frame, crop?

[bildo]

I've recently started getting into motorsport a lot more and got some really decent opportunities coming up.

Up until now I've been using one body and changing lenses when I can. This weekend I decided to take both of my bodies (D5100 and D7100) so that I could get a bit of variety. I had a 70-200 f2.8 on the D7100 and a 16-85 on the D5100 for pit shots and close-ups.

Now, after using the D7100 so much, the D5100 feels like a bit of a toy and I'd like something a bit better to upgrade to.

I initially thought 'D7000, done'. I was intending to get this and upgrade to a 17-55mm f2.8.

I've since thought, why not go full frame and have the best of both worlds? So I'm now considering a full frame Nikon and a 24-70 2.8 instead.

Would be nice to have a FF for when I need a little less reach from the 70-200 aswell.

What are peoples thoughts on this? Is having a FF AND a crop body a good idea?

 

[mickyc]

I'm kinda in the same boat ive a d200, d80 and d90 all gripped so selling the d200 and d80 to help pay for a d700 which I pick up from the sorting office tomorrow, i was going to keep the d90 and a couple of the dx lenses but now thinking sell all the cropped stuff and buy decent ff glass as ff is the way to go or so every one says

 

[RichardTaylor]

When shooting trackside it is almost always a crop camera with a 100-400 lens, and a full frame camera with a 70-200 as a back up and ocassional use (depending where I am standing).

When shooting orther "events" the full frame camera is my first choice (mainly becuse of the better IQ especially at high ISO).

 

[bildo]

I'm kinda in the same boat ive a d200, d80 and d90 all gripped so selling the d200 and d80 to help pay for a d700 which I pick up from the sorting office tomorrow, i was going to keep the d90 and a couple of the dx lenses but now thinking sell all the cropped stuff and buy decent ff glass as ff is the way to go or so every one says

Very nice mate, bet you're looking forward to that! FF does seem good for certain situations, it's handy to have the extra reach on a crop sensor for the motorsport though

When shooting trackside it is almost always a crop camera with a 100-400 lens, and a full frame camera with a 70-200 as a back up and ocassional use (depending where I am standing).

When shooting orther "events" the full frame camera is my first choice (mainly becuse of the better IQ especially at high ISO).

The track I'm mainly attending has a hairpin which you can stand in the middle of whilst drivers drive round. At the weekend I was using between 16-28mm range on a crop sensor lens in this section. So I don't JUST need reach which is what is swaying me towards FF a little more.

Are there any FF bodies out there that give great results whilst being around the £400-500 mark? (I don't mind used) Or am I being a bit unrealistic? Quite a few used D7000's in this range so it was where I was hoping to be at.

As for glass, is the 17-55 2.8 or 24-70 2.8 the better choice for shooting motorsport?

 

[mickyc]

I do think I will miss what the crop sensor give sme compared to ff

 

[realspeed]

That is one of the reasons why I got the D800. You can crop right down without loss of picture quality.

My example I put up is this

From this shot hand held

cropped down to this using a Nikon 24-70mm f2.8 lens

Imagine what a 70-200 mm lens can achieve with this camera

 

[specialman]

Going off what you're saying about not needing reach, you could keep with crop and go down the route of using something like a Tokina 11-16mm, giving you a very wide FoV (and exceptional image quality) but still have the option of reach when you need it from the crop sensor on your long lens. You also benefit from a fairly good FPS on the body you own.

For £500 then you'll not get a FF Nikon body - you could get a 5D mk1, but the FPS isn't that high and you also then split your system, meaning you need CAF and NAF-fit lenses so nothing's interchangeable.

 

[mpe]

That is one of the reasons why I got the D800. You can crop right down without loss of picture quality.

Resolution is a good thing, but your picture clearly documents that it is not that easy to crop the image on the D800 without loss of the image quality. Most likely because your 24-70 can't keep up with the sensor.

You would be surprised, but perhaps the picture from now almost obsolete 12mpx camera like D700 upsampled to the same resolution wouldn't look much different than that. Perhaps it would be even better at native pixel level at higher ISO.

In reality the difference between 12mpx, 24mpx and 36mpx sensors is smaller that many people think.

 

[Nod]

Contrary to popular belief, FF is available for very little money BUT it will involve extra costs -35mm FILM!!! You can pick up a film body for peanuts these days and (round pounds accounting) you should be able to get a 36 exposure film and D&P for well under a tenner, including a CD of the images. It's actually a fairly worthwhile exercise as well, slowing you down a bit (machine gunning can get expensive!) and making you think about what you're shooting. In the OP's situation though, I think I would go for a 2nd D7100 body (for his familiarity with it if nothing else) and keep saving for a (?pair of?) FF DSLRs.

 

[bildo]

Thanks for the responses guys.

Sounds like my options are increase my budget, or go for a D7000 and get a 17-55. The advantage of doing this would be that the cameras would both be really similar to use meaning less confusing time when wanting to get the shot I need.

Nod - I have been thinking about trying film for the first time recently, however I don't think for motorsport it's particularly ideal. I'm extremely interested in doing so soon though.

 

[sk66]

Crop factor/MP's is NOT the same as using a longer lens. A longer lens has more magnification and presents more detail to the sensor to be recorded.

90% of the time a longer lens is the "best answer." And 100% of the time a crop body/MP's is the cheaper/more "practical" answer.

If you go FF, within the lenses you have that provide the right FOV/magnification you will get better results. Where you don't have the FL, it will be expensive. A lot of us use a DX body (I use a D800 in DX mode) as the "practical solution" for when we really need it.